


Heart of Gold and Stardust Soul

by Triangulum



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Darcyland Valentine's Day Mini Challenge, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Getting Together, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-13
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-27 16:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17769857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Triangulum/pseuds/Triangulum
Summary: A collection of ficlets for grimeysociety's Darcyland Valentine's Day Mini Challenge.





	1. Darcy/Clint - Worst First Date Ever

**Author's Note:**

> Pairings will vary by chapter and will be labeled. Trying to hit as many prompts as I can, but we'll see how that goes.

Darcy trudges up the stairs in her building, a bottle of rum held loosely in one hand, her sparkly high heels in the other. The elevator is broken again, something she needs to harass Clint about, but first thing's first. His door is across the landing from hers and she only opens her door to toss her shoes inside before banging on his. Clint answers in a pair of ratty sweats and a purple t-shirt, face scrunched in confusion.

"Darcy? Thought you were on a date?" he asks. He looks her up and down, from her dripping wet hair and soaked dress to her bloodied knuckles. His eyebrows raise. "Uh, didn't go well I take it?"

Darcy glares. "I need comfortable clothes, Coke, and to pet your dog," Darcy says. She pushes past him, pressing the bottle of rum into his hands as she goes. 

"You know you have comfortable clothes in your apartment, right? Across the hall?" Clint says, but he closes the door after her anyway. He glances down at the bottle, eyes widening when he sees the expensive brand. "Whoa. That bad huh?"

"It's way past laundry day and yours are better," Darcy says, walking right back into his room like she owns the place. "And yes, that bad."

Darcy digs through the pile of clean clothes on his bed, tugging out her favorite deep purple t-shirt and a pair of gray sweats. They're baggy on her, but she always steals them anyway. She peels off her dress and lets it fall to the ground with a splat before pulling on Clint's wrinkly clothes. She throws her dress over the shower curtain rod in his bathroom to dry before shuffling back into his living room, now in dry clothes and a pair of thick socks.

Clint's in the kitchen that overlooks his living room, two glasses with ice and Coke in front of him. He glances up when she walks in, about to pour in the rum. She gives him a lazy salute and keeps shuffling until she hits his couch, collapsing down next to Lucky, who immediately turns and paws at her. For the first time that night, Darcy smiles, scratching Lucky behind his ears until he's half in her lap, tongue out and happy. 

"I'm not sharing custody if he ends up liking you more than me," Clint says as he walks over, setting their drinks down on the palette that serves as his coffee table.

"That's okay, I'll settle for visitation," she says, kissing Lucky's head before reaching for her drink. 

Clint hands her an ice pack for her knuckles and sits on the other side of Lucky, looking at her with his eyebrows raised. "So are you going to tell me, or am I guessing why you're drenched and have bloody knuckles?" Clint asks.

Darcy huffs, gathering her mass of wet curls and pulling them back with the hair tie on her wrist. "I mean, you could guess if you want, but it'd probably be way off from the truth," Darcy says. Lucky hops down, sitting next to Darcy so he can rest his chin on her leg. "Jackson was perfectly nice, perfectly normal, until he decided to take me to the restaurant where his ex-wife works."

Clint's eyes widen. "He didn't."

"Oh he did. Which caused more than the usual scene because she has a restraining order," Darcy says. Clint sighs. "Yeah. So then her manager drags him out, then he tries to fight the manager. I'm trying to kick rocks because fuck that noise."

"Did he try to hit you?" Clint asks seriously, nodding to the ice pack on her hand. 

"No, I punched his ex-wife," Darcy says. "She thought I knew about their issues and willingly came with him to fuck with her, so she sprayed me with a goddamn hose on their patio."

"So you punched her?" Clint asks.

"Look, that dress cost more than I pay for rent," Darcy says.

"Because I charge you next to nothing," Clint says.

" _And_ she was swinging the hose like she was going to hit me with it," Darcy says, ignoring his interruption. "Pure self defense, dude."

"I'll grant you that," Clint says. 

Darcy sighs, leaning against the arm of the couch, stretching her legs out and setting her sock-covered feet in Clint's lap. He lets her, absently taking her foot in his hand and massaging out the aches from wearing four-inch heels. Clint's good like that, easy. He's nice just because. He doesn't make a big show of helping anyone, he just does it. She loves that about him. It's awful. 

"This is completely your fault," she says. She doesn't mean to say it, it just kind of pops out.

"How?!" he says.

Darcy groans, listing to the side and letting her head hit the back of the couch and closes her eyes. "We went to drinks before dinner and it was nice. Like, he was kinda funny, but not as funny as you. He was nice, but in the performative, look-at-what-a-good-person-I-am way, not like you. I kept comparing him to you and he didn't measure up," she says. She opens her eyes and sees him looking at her surprised, his hands on her feet frozen. "I kept thinking that I'd have had more fun here."

"Here?" Clint says, looking around. "With three-day-old pizza on the floor and the bathroom door that doesn't close all the way?"

Darcy snorts. "Yeah, I was shocked too," she says. "No, with you, you dork."

Clint's hands resume rubbing her feet, digging his thumb into the arch of her foot, making her groan. He's looking at her thoughtfully and she honestly has no idea what he's thinking. His self deprecation habit runs deep, deeper than she's happy with, so sometimes it's a tossup if he realizes he's being complimented and/or hit on. It makes her a bit sad and lot angry at the people who made him that way.

"So, if after you've recovered from the date from hell, are once again warm and in good spirits, I were to ask you out," Clint says slowly. "Would you say yes?"

Darcy grins at him. "I'd say yes," she says. "And not just because you rub my feet." 

Clint's smile is wide. "Just so you know, the only reason I'm not trying to kiss the hell out of you is it seems like a shitty faux pas after you just had a bad date," he says. 

"I don't give a fuck about a faux pas," Darcy says, yanking her feet out of his hands. "Get over here."


	2. Darcy/Thor - Fake Marriage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess this is more fake engagement than fake marriage. Oh well.

Asgard is simultaneously exactly and nothing like Darcy had imagined. Oh, it's beautiful, full of gorgeous art, amazing buildings, all that technology she has no hope of understanding. They really went off on the aesthetic. The thing she hadn't been expecting was the political ass-kissing. She probably should have, Thor is future king, but she'd assumed they were maybe a bit more evolved than humans. Maybe power grubbing people were universal. 

The dignitaries are...exhausting. Some are from other planets, some are from important families on Asgard, but they're all doing the same thing - throwing their daughters at Thor. It takes about thirty seconds for Darcy to realize what's going on. She chokes on her sip of wine, Loki patting her on the back with a sneer on his lips as another man dressed to the nines not-so-subtly implies that his daughter would make a fine queen and mother for Thor's children.

"What," Darcy says, coughing a bit on her wine, "the fuck?"

"This is hardly new," Loki says, disgust tinging his voice. "Though they have certainly become more bold since Odin has fallen into the Odinsleep more often."

Thor is way more polite than Darcy would be in that situation, carefully rebuffing advance after advance without being rude, but there's a tightness in his eyes that lets Darcy know he's reaching the end of his rope. Loki must see it too, sighing as Thor has to physically pull a woman's hands off of him. 

Thor glances over at them, but Loki just salutes him with his drink, apparently content to watch the show. Thor says something Darcy can't hear and breaks away, weaving through the crowd of people to where Darcy and Loki are leaning against a pillar on the outskirts of the party. He's almost made it through the gauntlet, is only ten or so feet from them, when another man steps into his line of sight, his daughter at his elbow.

Thor looks over the man's shoulder at them as he talks, gesturing to his daughter. Then Thor locks eyes with her, looking stressed, and says something that makes her heart stop.

"Have you met my love, Lady Darcy?" Thor asks. 

Loki stills at her side and Darcy chokes on her wine for the second time that night. The dignitary looks at her, not looking very impressed, which is fucking rude! She looks fantastic wearing the most gorgeous Asgardian dress, her hair falling in soft waves down her back, two small braids pulled back at her temples. She's killing it here.

"Yes, the Lady Darcy," Loki says, recovering quicker than her. She feels a soft tingling at her wrist that she's come to associate with Loki's magic, and when she glances down she sees the illusion of an intricate silver bangle on her wrist. "He only recently took her as his intended."

Thor steps around the man and his daughter to stand at Darcy's side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, tugging her closer to him. It's not a new position, she's a cuddler and Thor is plenty tactile, but never as his fiancee?! She thinks she manages to smile instead of grimace, though her eyes are probably entirely too wide, as she wraps her arm around his waist.

"We haven't made a formal announcement yet," Thor says, using his free hand to lift Darcy's wrist, showing off the very fake bracelet that Darcy has a feeling is something of an engagement ring on Asgard. "We would like to keep things private for the time being, I'm sure you understand."

The man looks like he swallowed a lemon, his daughter looking extremely put out at his side. He pulls his face into a smile though and congratulates them before excusing himself rather quickly. Word seems to spread fast because more and more people keep coming up to them and congratulating them while looking Darcy up and down, evaluating the woman who will apparently be the next queen of Asgard. 

Darcy keeps her fake smile plastered to her face, trying to ignore how fast her heart is pounding. Look, she's thought about it, okay? She thought about what it would be like to have a night in Thor's bed (she's assuming fan-fucking-tastic). Then her fantasies grew from there, becoming what it would be like to be with him, to wake up with her limbs tangled with his, to be _his_ , for him to be hers. She pretends this isn't making her ache.

Parties on Asgard rage late into the night, so by the time they're done and can slink away, Darcy is dead tired and the buzz from the sweet wine she'd had earlier wore off some time ago. Thor leads her from the big hall by the hand, the bracelet fading once they're out of the sight of everyone else, Loki's magic falling away. 

Darcy opens her mouth to ask what the fresh fuck, but Thor puts his finger to her lips, looking over her shoulder at the people trickling out behind them. She nods and lets him lead her deeper into the palace to his rooms. When he closes the door behind him, she turns, raising her eyebrows with her hands on her hips. He has the decency to look abashed.

"Thor," she says. "So, we're getting married?"

"I'm sorry," he says immediately. "They kept insisting I consider their daughters for queen and I...panicked."

" _You_ panicked. Thor, I've seen you get stabbed in the chest and literally just shrug!"

"Yes, but I could stab them back," Thor says. "It's generally frowned upon to stab at peace meetings."

"Okay, but us getting married?" Darcy says because really, the notion of her and Thor is ridiculous. "You could have just said you're not interested."

"My...love of women is well known. It would be a hard lie to sell," Thor says, then frowns. "Why would it be so hard to believe that we were betrothed?"

"Uh, because I'm not from Asgard? I'm not noble or royal or whatever the people trying to marry you are? Because you're a superhero and literal god and I'm just a graduate student who works part-time as a lab assistant?" Darcy says, leaning back against the closed door. "Literally any of those, take your pick." It doesn't feel good exactly to list all the reasons she isn't suitable for him, but it's what she's apparently doing anyway. 

"First, you are of Midgard, which is part of the Nine Realms, thus making you a perfectly eligible candidate," Thor says, stepping closer to her. He's looking at her intently, the way he does when he's showing just how intelligent he truly is, when it feels like he's looking right through her. "Nobility and royalty aren't necessary for a marriage to a prince of Asgard. Yes, some marriages are made for political purposes, but many are also made for love."

"Oh," Darcy says. She isn't sure what else to say to that. Thor is still moving closer to her, only stopping when there are scant few inches between them. "To be fair, I don't know much about alien marriage customs."

Thor smiles down at her, taking her hands in his, making her feel ridiculously small next to him. "You are not 'just' anything, little one. You are very sharp, very kind, and one of my most treasured friends," Thor says. He squeezes her hands when she looks away, unprepared for the look on his face, until she meets his eyes again. "This literal god would be lucky to be betrothed to you."

Darcy swallows hard, hands trembling in his. There's been flirting between them, it's just how they are, but there's been...more lately. The looks have lingered, the teasing getting a little more serious. There's nothing in his face that's kidding now.

Thor trails his hands up her bare arms, leaving goosebumps in their wake, over her shoulders, fingers grazing her collarbones. He cradles her face in his large hands, thumb brushing over her parted lips as he stares down at her. He's waiting for her, waiting to see if she pulls away or not. She isn't going to pull away.

"Thor," she murmurs, leaning toward him, going up on her tiptoes.

He doesn't make her wait, dipping his head to to kiss her. There's no hesitation, just pure want. This has been building up between them and the result doesn't disappoint, sending heat zinging through her body. Thor kisses her like he _means_ it, lips soft against hers, tongue exploring her mouth. She moans into the kiss, not at all embarrassed because she wants him and she's not ashamed of that.

Thor eventually pulls back so she can gasp for air. He doesn't go far, peppering soft, slow kisses to her cheeks, her jawline, down her throat.

"Let's start at dating first," Darcy says, so proud that her voice barely wavers. "We can talk about betrothal and intended stuff later." 

Thor bites down on her throat and she lets out a guttural moan. Thor chuckles against her skin, giving her a light lick before pulling back. His eyes are dark with want and it sends a shiver through her.

"Yes, let's."


	3. Darcy/Bucky - Oh My God, They Were Roommates

Bucky didn't mean to move in with Darcy, it just sort of happened. Steve's his best friend and he loves him, but the hovering was getting to be way too much. He'd been looking into an apartment outside of the tower when he'd overheard Darcy saying her roommate had just unexpectedly packed up and gone to live with her boyfriend. Bing, bang, boom, he moved in.

Darcy's previous roommate had taken most of the living room furniture with her, leaving them with a rather empty looking living room with a squashy couch and her big TV, which was sitting on a fancy sideboard she'd liberated from the tower because it had a wobble. He doesn't mind, he's lived with less and sitting next to her isn't a hardship.

Darcy is a tactile person, which had thrown him off at first. He used to be, he thinks. He remembers arms around beautiful women, around Steve, patting friends on the back, sleeping close to the Howling Commandos to keep the cold at bay. He remembers that, but he avoids touch now most of the time after too many years of his only touch resulting in pain. He hugs Steve because that's safe, but he stays a good distance away from most others.

Darcy doesn't seem to get that memo. When he told her it was fine that she accidentally bumped into him when she was helping him bring in boxes, she just sort of ran with it. She's always in his space, putting her feet in his lap, bumping his hip with hers when she walks by him in the kitchen, tugging him by the hand when they're grocery shopping. And he finds he doesn't mind.

So he isn't surprised when he's sitting on the couch, watching a Mets game, Darcy comes home and immediately beelines for him. She kicks off her shoes, drops her bag, and flops onto the couch next to him, groaning. He lifts his arm when she wiggles closer, letting her settle against his side and wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"Long day?" he asks.

"People are the worst," she grumbles, voice muffled because her face is shoved against his chest. 

"Not that I disagree, but why?" he asks. He twists his fingers around the strands of her hair that fall over his hand.

Darcy moves her head enough that he can hear her when she says, "My mom called to complain for an hour about how I'm 'wasting all that potential' and 'you need to find purpose in your life' which really just means she wants to know why I'm not married. Because apparently working with one of the top scientists in the world at the Avengers' tower isn't excelling enough for her."

"Her loss," Bucky says, squeezing her gently.

"Yeah well, then my cab driver kicked me out six blocks away because I didn't want to go get tacos," she says, and the cab driver is lucky Bucky doesn't know his face. "Which of course made me want tacos, but Jorge's is closed, did you know?" Bucky shakes his head. "A drunk driver crashed through their storefront. Everyone is garbage. But you. You're good people."

"I'm so glad I rate above drunk drivers and harassing cab drivers," Bucky says dryly. 

"Please, you know you rate above most people anyway," Darcy says. No, he doesn't know that actually. Darcy frowns, seeing that on his face. "I tell you that all the time!"

"Just working on believing it, doll," Bucky says, kissing the top of her head. "So what do you say, comfort movie?"

"Hell yeah. I vote The Mummy Returns," Darcy says as she stands, using his knee for balance. "I'll get the popcorn, you get the movie." 

She bends down, pressing a quick but soft kiss to his lips, then the both freeze, her eyes wide, cheeks reddening. He's sure he looks just as gobsmacked, because what? That's definitely not something they do. Oh he's thought about it, how nice it would be to kiss her, to pull her into his lap, to tangle his hands in her curls. He's thought about it a _lot_ , especially in the privacy of his bedroom when he can hear her trusty vibrator through their thin walls.

"Uh," Darcy says, staring at him. She sinks back onto the couch, covers her face with her hands, muttering, "Shit, shit, shit," under her breath.

"If I had known we were kissing, I wouldn't have had sour cream and onion chips earlier," is the only thing he can think to say. 

Darcy snorts, pulling her hands away from her eyes to look at him. "I am so sorry, dude, it was a total accident, I swear. You were being cute and domestic and I was thinking about how that was when I would kiss you if we were together and it just happened," she says very quickly, her words running together. 

Bucky stares at her, stunned for a moment. "Do you think about us kissing often?" he asks.

"You have no idea how many times I've almost kissed you when we leave in the morning," Darcy says and groans. "I know it's ridiculous and I'm _sorry_ but really I should get a medal for not fucking up sooner because you're a damn snack, Barnes. Look, I promise not to do it again and we can ignore my ridiculous and inappropriate kissing impulses, 'kay? 'Kay."

Darcy moves like she's going to stand but Bucky grabs her wrist, keeping her on the couch. "I have a better idea," he says, tugging her gently. She goes easily, lets him pull her until she's in his lap straddling his thighs. She's looking down at him with wide eyes, want written in her expression. "I kissed you back," he reminds her. "It's not like that was a hardship for me."

Darcy grins, settling a little harder in his lap. "Good," she says.

Then she's kissing him again and it's not casual and chaste like before. She's kissing him like she needs him more than air, letting out months of pent up need and want. He groans, wrapping his hand around the back of her neck, pulling her in closer. She whines, grinding down into his lap when the movement causes him to tug her hair. Bucky hums into the kiss, wrapping his hand in her hair and _pulling_. 

Darcy gasps, breaking the kiss as her eyes flutter shut, thighs squeezing on either side of his legs. She rolls her hips, rubbing her center over the hard line in his jeans. Bucky hisses and gathers her in his arms, standing in one swift movement. She doesn't squeak or flail, just wraps her legs around his waist, trusting him not to drop her. He walks them down the hall of their small apartment, Darcy nipping at his neck. He pauses in front of his bedroom door.

"You sure, doll?" he asks, voice ragged. 

Darcy pulls back from sucking a truly impressive mark on his neck to look at him, pupils blown wide with desire. "I'm sure that if you don't get my pants off in ten seconds, I'm going to shred them," she says.

Bucky grins. Okay then.


	4. Darcy/Bucky - Candy Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a day late, so sue me.

Darcy is on the mother of all sugar highs. She'd raided Target's 50% off Valentine's Day candy on her way to work this morning and hadn't held back. Nerds Ropes, all the chocolate she could ever want, and her personal favorite, Brach's candy hearts.

"Those are disgusting," Jane says, watching Darcy pop a handful into her mouth. "Darcy, it's like eating sugary chalk."

"Yes, and I LOVE THEM," Darcy says. 

"How many have you had?" Jane asks. 

"Just one."

"Box?"

"...Bag."

"Darcy!"

"I accept no judgement or criticism of any kind," Darcy says. She looks up when the door opens, Bucky strolling into the lab. "Barnes! Have I introduced you to the wonder that is half off holiday candy?"

"No?" he says, leaning against her desk.

"Consider yourself lucky," Jane says.

"You bite your tongue," Darcy says before turning back to Bucky, holding open her bag of candy hearts. "You will not regret it."

He looks skeptical but reaches into the bag regardless, pulling out a few hearts. "These are edible?" he asks.

"No!" Jane says.

"Ignore her, she hates happiness," Darcy says. "Yes, yellow and orange are the best, though."

Bucky pops the yellow hearts into his mouth, humming consideringly. He's frustratingly good at keeping his poker face up, so she has no idea if he hates them or not.

"Not awful," he grants her. "Do we need to follow the candy's instructions?" He holds up a purple heart that says 'Text me!'

"Personal choice," Darcy says. "There are some that say shit like 'love bug' and there really isn't much you can do with that."

"Okay," Bucky says. He fiddles with the orange candy heart is his hand, holding it up so she can see the words 'KISS ME!' "What about this one?" 

He's grinning, a challenge in his eyes, and well, Darcy is never one to back down from a good old fashioned challenge. She plucks the candy heart from his fingers, placing it between her lips, the 'KISS ME' facing Bucky. She raises her eyebrows and beckons him forward as if to say _come and get it, hotshot_.

Bucky doesn't hesitate, closing the short distance between them. He rests one hand on her hip, the other brushing her hair away from her face before bringing his mouth to hers. He gently uses his tongue to pull the candy heart from her lips, then he's kissing her hard right in the middle of the lab. Darcy wraps her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer. He tastes like candy, but that's the last thing on her mind as he kisses the holy hell out of her in full view of everyone she works with.

When he pulls back, looking ridiculously smug, Jane is staring, gobsmacked, and Darcy knows she's more than just a little flushed herself. Bucky just grins and bites into the candy heart he still has in his mouth. It's not the way they'd discussed going public with their relationship, but oh well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all, folks!

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me on [ tumblr ](http://www.hotpinklizard.tumblr.com).


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